Blaster is an arcade game developed by Eugene Jarvis and released by Williams in 1983. The game is a 3D shooter set in outer space and is a quasi-sequel to Robotron: 2084. The objective is to shoot enemies and avoid obstacles in twenty differently-goaled levels in order to reach paradise. The game had advanced graphics at the time of release, that used scaled sprites to display the impression of three dimensional worlds and asteroid fields.

Story

According to the opening demo:

"The year is 2085 and the Robotrons have destroyed the human race. You escape in a stolen space shuttle. Your destination: Paradise. A remote outpost 20 million light years away. Does paradise exist? Can civilization be started again? These questions will be answered at the end of your journey. But first, you must BLAST... OR BE BLASTED!"

The introductory text implies that the game takes place after the events of Robotron: 2084. However, aside from a few oversized G.R.U.N.T. robots in the first stage, none of the Robotron characters make an appearance in Blaster.
Gameplay

The game is controlled with an optical joystick and two buttons: fire and thrust. The ships weapon fires from a linear bank of four pyramid-shaped shots. Shots do not emanate toward the exact center of the screen; the first shot in the series will be furthest left, while the fourth will be furthest right. The player is given three lives and extra lives are awarded every 100,000 points. The player has a life bar, in likeness to similar games such as Star Fox; however in this implementation, the life bar represents three hit points, and not a continuum of health points. When the ship gets hit a second time the text "ENERGY CRITICAL" will be flashed on-screen. Almost everything in the game can be destroyed, from the asteroids to enemy shots. In fact the latter is a critical component of surviving for an extended period of time.

Marooned astronauts can be rescued by interception through the various waves. They are initially worth 1000 points, and are incremented by 200 points for each subsequent rescue during the same life, for a maximum value of 2000 points. Any situation where enemies appear in groups offer additional bonuses for destroying all enemies in the group. In some levels, such as the Saucerland waves, there are conditions which necessitate a certain order for the ships to be destroyed in. In most of the levels a large blue "E" decorated with arcs of lightning can be found. Shooting these E's will completely fill the shields, while colliding with them will cause the player to warp to the next wave. Before warping, every object in the level will turn into E's and the ship will speed against a backdrop of a field of E's.

1 Player Start                             1

2 Players Start                            2

Coin 1                                     5

Coin 2                                     6

Coin 3					   7

Tilt					   T

P1 Button 1             LCONTROL or Mouse B1

P1 Button 2                 LALT or Mouse B3

P1 Button 3                SPACE or Mouse B2

AD Stick X Analog                    Mouse X

AD Stick X Analog Dec  		        LEFT

AD Stick X Analog Inc		       RIGHT

AD Stick Y Analog 		     Mouse Y

AD Stick Y Analog Dec	   		  UP

AD Stick Y Analog Inc		        DOWN

Auto Up					  F1

Hight Score Reset			   8

Advance					  F2